Field of the Invention
The invention relates to promoting and using brand assets online. More particularly, the invention concerns a framework for brand owners and website owners to control the way of distributing and maintaining brand assets being presented on the Internet.
Description of the Related Art
The Internet is a useful platform for brand owners to promote their brands using various brand assets. The brand assets can include images, videos, presentations, brochures (e.g., PDF or other formats), flash animations, software applications, widgets or other types of media related to the brands. Often, these brand assets are defined by rules as to how they are to be used. These rules are called brand guidelines. When brand owners use their brand assets, they have controls of how the brand assets are used and applied according to the brand guidelines.
In order to extend a brand's reach to a wider audience, a brand owner shares the brand assets with consumers, reseller partners, media, trade associations and other interested third parties for use on websites that are not managed or maintained by the brand owner.
Presently, the method for distributing and maintaining brand assets when they are shared with third parties is manual and disparate. FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing the legacy process of distributing and managing brand assets. Once a brand asset has been created in step 101, the brand owner distributes the brand asset to its third party user via email (in step 102) or via an extranet (e.g., a website in step 104 and 106). Ultimately, the recipient of the brand asset uploads the asset into a website system and links the asset in code (e.g., HyperText Markup Language, “HTML”) to the location of the file on the system in step 112. However, previous to publishing the brand asset, the recipient of the brand asset manipulates the brand asset to fit the website that is going to host the asset in step 110. Often, that manipulation violates the brand guidelines, which can potentially harm the equity of the brand. Such manipulation can include stretching images, placing them in places not approved by the brand owners, etc.
Due to the nature of the Internet, users of brand assets can source these assets by copying them from websites other than the brand owner's, in step 108. As a result, these users may use the brand assets that do not conform to the brand guidelines.
Brand assets often change since they represent products, which often receive updates or new models. As a result, brand assets can become out of date quickly. When a person sources an out-of-date brand asset and puts that asset on another website, the incorrect brand information is propagated throughout the Internet, which again harms the brand's equity. Maintaining the currency and correctness of brand assets on websites that are not managed by brand owners is a challenging task, because these brand owners lack visibility to where those brand assets exist on the Internet and lack the ability to remotely update and/or manage those brand assets.
When a brand owner wishes to promote its business on its own website, often multiple brand assets are presented together. For example, a product photograph may be marketed adjacent to a set of specifications, a brochure, a video or some other form of information about the brand and its products or services. This is often called merchandising. When a brand owner controls the website, it is easy for that owner to merchandise these brand assets in a consistent, attractive manner. However, when a brand owner wishes to promote its business on another company's website that is not owned or controlled by the brand owner, it is very difficult to consistently deliver brand assets that are well merchandised together, especially not within a specific, packaged area.
Brands are also used to apply credibility to the users of the brands. For example, a medical board certification or accreditation logo can increase the perceived value of the doctor who has such a certification. There is an association between the beneficiary of such accreditation (e.g. the doctor) and the website that represents that doctor. Today, the brand asset is simply an image file representing the brand logo for that certification and there is no authentication that the brand user is authorized to use the brand and there is no association between the website using the brand asset, the website owner authorized to use the brand asset and the company making the authorization.
Finally, brand owners have limited visibility regarding where these brand assets are used online, who is using those assets, how many people are viewing or interacting with those assets and under what condition those brand assets appear. This impacts the ability for brand owners to control those brand assets, value the brand assets, and evaluate the return on investment from the use of those brand assets.